This article is re -published with Conversation under Creative Commons license.
Many of us were witnesses of extraordinary and even anti -social behavior at the airport or during the flight. They can include soft acts such as sleeping on the floor or making yoga in front of the flight information system Serious incidents Like an early morning Drunk arguments Or even an attempt to open the aircraft door in the middle of the flight.
It seems that these more sinister problems have worsened in recent years, as rage incidents increased and flight development. Such incidents led to connections to limit or even ban the sale of alcohol at airports and planes. For example, Ryanair called for the limit of two drunk In bars at airports to stop drunk incidents on aircraft.
But what about airports that make us behave differently? Let’s take a look at psychology.
Many vacationers believe that the adventure begins at the airport, which puts them in a different system than normally. They are content to start one or two weeks with relaxed hedonism with flourishing.
Others are not afraid of flying, which can make them act with character or shelter in alcohol. The noise and crowds of airports do not aid either. As a field Environmental psychology He showed that people are very sensitive to our immediate surroundings and can easily “overload” stressors such as crowds and noise.
Stress and anxiety cause irritability, both on the basis of ephemeral and continuous. People who are generally restless They are more susceptible to anger. And the ephemeral restless mood often causes irate explosions.
In my opinion, we also need to look at the airport with Psychogeographic perspective. Psychogeography examines the impact of places on emotions and behavior of people, especially urban environments.
In Celtic cultures there is a concept of special “thin places” – often saints groves or forests – where the curtain between the world and the spiritual world is slender. IN thin placesWe are between two kingdoms, neither fully in one place or the other.
In the newfangled technological world of the airport, you can also see “thin places”. These are limine zones in which the boundaries disappear. At the literal level, national borders dissolve. After passing through security, we enter the land of niches, between countries. The concept of place becomes vague.
In a similar way, time becomes a foggy concept at airports. Soon we will enter the plane, we are in the limin -space space between two time zones, soon we will jump forward and even return to the past. Some flights in the US – such as Atlanta to Alabama – land earlier than the time of departure when they cross the time zones. Possibility to manage our time It gives us a sense of control over our lives. Losing this can be another source of anxiety.
In a different sense, the airports are a zone of absence in which the moment is unwanted. Attention everyone turns towards the future, their flights and adventures before them when they reach their destination. This intense future often brings frustration, especially if the flights are delayed.